On June 29, 2011, the Quebec government published the Regulation respecting the recovery and reclamation of products by enterprises, which came into effect on July 14th, 2011. The purpose of the regulation is to reduce the quantity of residual materials by making the producers and marketers of certain consumer products responsible for their recovery and the costs related thereto.
Certain provisions of the Regulation (which will affect industries such as the automotive, electronic appliances and retail sectors) came into effect on July 14th, 2013. Under the Regulation, the costs related to the recovery and reclamation of a certain electronic products (such as digital receivers, memory cards, USB keys, GPS systems, speakers, video game consoles and their peripherals, portable digital players, radio receivers, digital cameras, digital photo frames, camcorders, routers, hard drives, webcams, wireless devices, etc.) must be internalized in the price asked for the product (or a final product which contains said products). Businesses covered by the Regulation are required to implement their own recovery and reclamation program or join a recovery and reclamation program with an accredited organization and advise the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks of their chosen course of action.
For ease of reference, here is a link to the Regulation.
These new rules may have a significant impact on how manufacturers and retailers advertise and offer their products for sale in Quebec. We therefore invite you to contact your legal counsel to discuss how the Regulation and the Quebec recovery and reclamation fee may affect your business.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
